SPD on digital affairs

The SPD wants a fiber-optic network covering the whole state. Private providers are to be supported through advice for municipalities; where the market falls short, the Thüringer Glasfasergesellschaft (state fiber company) is to be funded. Mobile carriers are to be held more firmly to their rollout targets.

The SPD wants fast internet everywhere in Thuringia. That needs fiber networks. Private companies should build first. Where that is not enough, the state helps with money. The networks should belong to towns where possible. Cell phone coverage should also get better.

Privately financed rollout by telecom companies is to be backed by advisory services for municipalities. Where the market does not build fast or widely enough, the state fiber company is to receive targeted funding, and the state intends to fully co-finance the federal funding program. The fiber used should meet high environmental standards and come from Thuringian producers where possible. A fiber acceleration and transparency law is to publish data on where lines run and shorten procedures. On mobile coverage, the SPD wants to press the federal government for more binding rollout targets and examine state measures such as changes to the building code or providing sites.

The SPD wants to curb the power of large platforms and backs non-discriminatory algorithms, free software and open standards. It regards data protection as a fundamental right, but the rules should not place excessive burdens on small and mid-sized businesses.

The SPD wants tighter limits on big internet companies. Computer programs should not treat anyone unfairly. Free software should be used more often. Data protection matters to the SPD. But small firms should not face too much red tape.

Internet policy is to balance individual liberties with the needs of essential public services. Existing digital infrastructure is to be regulated on an open-access basis as far as possible, so that digital services in rural areas become better and cheaper to reach. The platform calls data protection and data sovereignty basic rights. The rules should not create excessive bureaucracy or block useful applications; what is necessary for large tech corporations may be disproportionate for smaller firms.

The SPD wants to create a cybersecurity center for Thuringia. All state bodies that protect IT systems are to coordinate there in order to better shield the state, businesses and the public from online attacks.

The SPD wants to start a center for cybersecurity. All offices that protect computer systems will work together there. This should reduce harm from attacks over the internet. Agencies should report security gaps to the makers right away.

In the center, the responsible Thuringian bodies are to exchange information closely and regularly. Security agencies are to pass on discovered vulnerabilities to manufacturers without delay, working with the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The program justifies this with the growing number of attacks on the IT systems of citizens, public administration and companies.

The SPD wants to fully introduce electronic legal filing and electronic case files in Thuringia. Justice system IT is to get sufficient funding and specialist staff and be protected by a security drive.

Courts should work with digital files. The SPD wants to finish this in Thuringia. There should be enough money and IT experts for it. The data of the courts should be safe.

Despite efficiency gains, the SPD wants court practice to stay close to citizens and build trust. IT specialists are to be available both in the central IT office at the Higher Regional Court and as on-site support staff; the platform sees a lack of specialists as the main weak point. Justice authorities are to receive enough material and staff resources for information security. A central office is to handle IT security management for all justice authorities and the prison system.

The SPD wants digital, user-friendly public administration at the state and municipal level. The state is to provide and pay for central online services for municipalities. By 2030, the most important administrative registers are to be modernized as fully as possible.

The SPD wants people to be able to file applications with offices online. The state should give towns the technology for this. Offices should be able to retrieve data from each other. People should be able to see who used their data.

Management is to be consolidated: the Chief Information Officer gets more responsibility, and a center for digital transformation is to support the ministries. Open-source software is to take priority when it is more economical and equally functional, and an IT security law is planned. A mandatory digital check for laws is meant to cut formal requirements, and online services are to be accessible. Thuringian registers are to be linked with national and European ones, and a data protection dashboard is to show citizens when their data was accessed. For staff, the platform plans more remote work, co-working spaces in state buildings and mandatory IT training for managers.

The SPD wants to develop ethical standards for artificial intelligence in government agencies. Decisions made by AI are to be labeled and understandable. Citizens are to get a right to have such decisions reviewed by a human.

Offices should use artificial intelligence only under clear rules. People should be able to tell when a computer made a decision. Everyone should be able to ask a human to check the decision. The SPD wants to create a right to this.

A competence center is to be set up in the state administration to test specific AI applications. According to the platform, AI decisions must be identifiable as such and transparent. Schleswig-Holstein serves as the model for the right to human review.